Swim
by Riniel Haerion
Summary: Out of all the things Anders owned, his fish happened to be the things he cared for the most. Prompt fill for the Almighty Johnsons kink meme,


Anders wasn't very close to many things at all in his life. He wasn't exactly on the best terms with his brothers, what with them thinking he's a total douchebag and all. Of course, if he had a list of things he cared about, his nice tropical fish were definitely ranking in the top 10. Unlike his brothers. It was strange for him to actually admit how much he loved his fish, because he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it from whoever he told. But damn, his fish were always there for him whenever he managed to royally fucked things up. His fish didn't judge him. They just swam along without a care in the world. He even ended up naming them. And because he wasn't very good with names, his fish were just named: Axl, Ty, Mike, Olaf, and Andy. Anders thought that his fish were suitable enough replacements for his brothers.

Not that it really mattered anymore, because Ty had to go Jack Frost and kill his fish. And then had the nerve to put fish sticks in place of the fish that he had so horribly murdered with cold. Now Anders was sitting in front of his fish tank staring at the all the brightly colored pebbles and nice things that he collected to give to his aquatic family replacements. Anders had decided that he would punch Ty next time he saw him, although trying to think of a reason other than 'You killed my fish you bastard', because he was sure that would get some rather strange looks from his family.

"Anders? Why are you moping in front of your fish tank?" Anders' eyes snapped away from the empty tank to take notice that Dawn was standing there, looking somewhat concerned.

"I wasn't moping." Anders denied, even though it was exactly what he had been doing.

Dawn peered into the tank for a moment, before turning back. "Now that I think about it I'm fairly sure you've been moping all week and staring at that tank. Haven't you gone out and bought some new ones?" She had to cover her mouth to keep her from giggling at the look incredulous look Anders gave her. "You must have really liked those fish if you can't even replace them. Get up Anders, I'll just take you to the store and buy you some new ones."

"It's not the same Dawn! Those fish were my family! I wouldn't force you to go out and buy a new brother or something!"

"Anders...They're fish." She sighed. She worked for a man who still acted like a complete child. "I'm sure you'll love the new ones just as much as the old ones." She felt like she was talking to a five year old who just lost their first fish. Not Anders.

Anders was staring at his fish tank again, and seemed to be deep in thought. Dawn sat down with him, and couldn't really believe that this was really happening. Anders constantly pestered her about feeding the fish and everything whenever he went off on some business trip, but she never thought he had actually been so serious. And it was a bit strange that Anders seemed to be using these fish as replacements for the rest of his family. Maybe she should call a therapist.

"I'll consider your offer Dawn." Anders said suddenly, turning to her. "I'll make no promises that I'll bond with these fish the way I bonded with my old ones, but I guess I may have to try. Only Ty is not allowed to go near the tank, and you can use his credit card to buy them." Anders pulled out a credit card from his wallet as he said this, handing it to Dawn.

"You have Ty's credit card?"

"I took it from him when he wasn't looking. Revenge for killing my fish." Andres shrugged, as if it was nothing. "Now off you go, buy me some new fish. Now I'll have replacements for my replacement brothers."

"Replacement brothers?" Dawn was right with her thoughts about Anders. Maybe he really did need a therapist.

"Don't question it, just go Dawn. I trust that you'll get me only the very best fish." There was that convincing voice he always did, the one that always assured her.

"O-okay..." She turned and left, leaving Anders still sitting in front of the empty fish tank.

He went back to staring at it again, remembering the fish that used to swim around so happily before Ty went and fucked things up.

"Don't worry, they'll never replace you guys." He said quietly to the fish that were no longer there.

Prompt:

Let's indulge in a brief headcannon of mine for a moment: Out of all the expensive items Anders has bought to furnish his apartment, the one thing he cares for most are his tropical fish. In fact, you could even say he's quite fond of them. In the first episode, he takes the time to make sure they're all alright after the earthquake, something that he does even before he goes to comfort the chick he was sleeping with. And when he needs Dawn to take care of his apartment for a day, he persistently mentions the need for her to feed his fish (although, admittedly, this is more just him trying to be a dick, but still). Anyways, let's just pretend that, of the few things that Anders really cares about, his fish rank pretty high up on the list. Maybe he even has names for all of them?

But then Ty accidentally killed them. And left fish sticks in their place. And Anders is actually secretly upset about it. Maybe Dawn eventually catches onto his moping and tries to take him shopping for some new fish but Anders is all like "it's nOT THE SAME". I don't know, I don't care, I just want something about Anders and his fish. Any point on the crack to angst spectrum is fine by me, and while I prefer gen I'm perfectly okay with pairings. Really, anything. Anything would be great.


End file.
